March 16, 2018

March 17, 2016

June 20, 2013

A state consumer agency is urging Indiana regulators to deny Indianapolis Power & Light Co.’s request to raise rates by $96.7 million, saying such a steep hike is unjustified.

The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor said Friday morning it would support a much smaller increase of $4.9 million.

In a sharply worded statement, the consumer’s office pointed out that IPL just granted a revenue increase of $29.6 million two years ago to pay for operating and maintenance costs and capital improvements.

“Between the rate increase IPL received only two years ago and the evidence filed in this case, there is no justification for the size of the requested increase or for IPL’s proposed changes to its customer charges,” Consumer Counselor Bill Fine said.

IPL wants to increase the “fixed charge” on its 490,000 customers by 59 percent—from $17 to $27 a month. IPL officials have called that “a modest increase” that is needed to cover the cost of power plants, transmission poles and wires.

But some consumer advocates point out that the $27 monthly fixed charge would be the highest among all of Indiana’s investor-owned utilities.

The OUCC is urging the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to establish a flat, monthly charge of $11.25 for each residential customer. In addition, the OUCC is recommending that IPL maintain its monthly customer charge for small commercial customers at $30. IPL wants to raise that monthly fee to $40.

In addition to raising fixed rates, IPL also wants to increase the “energy charge”—which is based on the actual volume of electricity customers use, measured by kilowatt hours. The increase could vary widely, due to complex rate formulas and depending on the amount of electricity consumed.

The OUCC said it has filed exhibits with state regulators that include comments from more than 2,700 IPL customers.

IPL’s rebuttal testimony is due on June 21, with a hearing scheduled for July 16.

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Reporter, Health Care Weekly author, The Dose author

Health care, utilities, environment

Russell joined IBJ in 2016, and spends his days looking for interesting stories on health care and life sciences. He previously worked at the Chicago Tribune and The Indianapolis Star. He has won more than 50 national and statewide awards in the past decade. He is president of the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and two sons. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking trails, growing wildflowers and reading biographies. He has run 10 marathons and 22 half-marathons. On his birthday, his wife gives him a half-pound of blue cheese.

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